Son De Azúcar

Colombian all-girls salsa & pop group. "Olga Lucía Rivas, once graduated from the faculty of "Licienciatura en Musica" from "Universidad del Valle"(Cali, Colombia), decided to start this musical group of girls, who little by little would become one of the most famous orchestras of the City of Cali in the decade of the 80s Olga Lucia with the help of her mother, Olga de Rivas (RIP), started the group under the name "Las Gaviotas" in 1987 in a very incipient way, without wind instruments and basic percussion in which the main melodic part was conducted through a piano-synthesizer and herself playing the bass. It was in its beginnings that the owners of "El Zaguán" a small bohemian bar, owned and managed by the parents of Margarita Rosa de Francisco ("La Niña Mencha"l), allowed this female musical group called "Gaviota" to make their presentations on a regular basis. There the group would be born that later would become the SON DE AZUCAR... a tricky name because in spanish "SON" could be the cuban rhythm or simply, made of sugar. Under this name they are called to record a year later (1988) under the Sony Music label and they take the name "Son de Azúcar" and since then they have taken on the task of conquering the Cali salseros in a quite active era in terms salsa, during the rise of orchestras and groups in a city where there was money left over for the rumba, product of the wide and open activity of the big drug cartels. Despite being such a competitive market, since there were at least 50 orchestras in the city, they managed to impose their style and the fact that they were the first local band of only women (already that format existed internationally, in the case of LAS CHICAS DEL CAN). It helps a little by alternating with the large local and foreign groups. Also little by little and based on a lot of work and success, they reach the International market, visiting Mexico and the USA in 1993. Then came the time of the skinny cows, there was no bed for so many orchestras and Olga Lucia, saturated with the stress of managing and orchestra without resources, she simply decided to leave the orchestra and settled in New York. The Orchestra remains steadfast and until today the subject has not been solved, to such an extent that the current SON DE AZUCAR groups has little or nothing to do with the original SON DE AZUCAR of Olga Lucia. His first international success would be "I am not a game", the theme of Hansel Camacho, in the voice of Diana María Vargas. Then come "who like you" and "eternal flame", when they were already recognized throughout the country. In 1991/1992 this production would come, "Con Sabor a Caña", recorded in Puerto Rico. In 1994 they returned to the national studies and from there arose "Sweet mosaic". In 1993, Son de Azúcar includes two trombones to his musical plant and some changes happen. in 1995 he says goodbye to the group Carmen Eugenia González and Alba Cecilia Collazos and Claudia Lorena Alvarez shared the voices. In 1997, with some innovations they launch his production "Like warriors ", record that is a mixture of rhythms that runs through salsa, merengue and above all includes the accordion that Sandra Patricia Bonilla learned to play. In 1993 Alba Cecilia Collazos, after being vocalist in Canela and presented a theme of his inspiration entitled "Cancion a mi madre". At the moment the original members of the orchestra live in the USA and what remains of it is basically a memory of what the SON DE AZUCAR was. Olga is based in New York, Zulma, daughter of percussionist and instrument maker Billo Quiñonez, is based in the Ft Lauderdale area. Diana Vargas is based in Miami since 2003 in the company of her husband and 2 children. On many occasions, I have heard Olga inform that this SON OF SUGAR is apocryphal and they have used his name to deceive people. "